But I had made the case that in the aftermath of our loss it was even more important that we continue to do the things that had always meant so much … - Joe Biden

I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university?
Why is it that my wife, who is sitting out there in the audience, is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? Is it because I'm the first Biden in a thousand generations to get a college and a graduate degree that I was smarter than the rest?
[Of his Irish ancestors] Those same people who read poetry and wrote poetry and taught me how to sing verse? Is it because they didn’t work hard? My ancestors, who worked in the coal mines of northeast Pennsylvania and would come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours? No, it's not because they weren't as smart. It’s not because they didn’t work as hard. It’s because they didn’t have a platform upon which to stand.

My rights are not derived from any government. My rights are not denied by any majority. My rights are because I exist.

All of those empty storefronts aren’t just shattered dreams, they’re warning lights that are going off and state and local budgets that are being stretched because of the lack of tax revenue.